Gear Talk > Other
Field Photography for Old Folks
Michael Erlewine:
Field Photography for Old Folks
I am getting old, not just older, but actually old. I will be 81 years in July 2022. And this affects my photography as far as hiking into the field. I always carried quite a bit of equipment because as a stacker of focus, I use a tripod. And not just any old tripod, but a beefy RRS Series 3, and topped with an Arca-Swiss Cube geared head which itself weighs 2 lbs 3 oz. Add a Nikon D850 and your packing some weight.
Well, as for cameras I’ve switched more to the Nikon Z7 II for the most part, which saves some weight right off the top, yet when all is said and done, it still all adds up. Of course, when I drive to an area where I want to photograph, I can just pull stuff from the car if I don’t have to walk too far.
Yet, if I want to hike and wander in the wilderness (like I do), so to speak, I have to watch my weight when it comes to equipment. That, coupled with the amount of time I spend near the ground for close-up and macro work, and the fact that I tend to crawl around on my belly and constantly move to adjust all my equipment, I’ve decided that I should at least try to pare down the weight of the equipment I tote around. Either that, or stay in the studio, which I have been doing for some time. It’s not that I don’t hike, just not with photo equipment. I have a good cell phone (iPhone 13 Pro Max), but that’s not quite yet what I call a camera, although I use it all the time.
Since I can’t do much about the weight of lenses and the camera, any weight reduction means looking at alternative tripods and heads. Although I have a ton of tripod heads, I don't like ball heads and tend not to use them. The only ball head I trust and like is the Burzynski Ball Head, but my copy is massive and heavy, so I won’t be hauling that head through the fields.
And I have tried the little geared heads like the Arca-Swiss and Leofoto and while they are lighter, they only offer 10-degrees of tilt, and even the larger (the 75) Arca-Swiss ones have but 15-degrees. Yes, a base leveler helps and gives a little more room, but there again the weight starts to add up.
And so, as of this writing, the only head I find useful for my kind of field use seems to be the Arca-Swiss Monoball P0, which weighs in at 14.4 oz., less than a pound. And it is smallish, lightweight, and locks tight. I can actually use it, although I have not gotten out much yet this year to prove that to my satisfaction. We are still just warming up here. And rain and cold? You bet.
As for tripods, it’s the same problem all over again. I have all kinds of tripods from many years back, great big heavy ones, and about every kind of small carbon-fiber tripod you can imagine. And this includes the really small ones that I bought, each time hoping they would cut it, but I find I like ‘sturdy’ and need it, which these are not, so they just accumulate.
So far, I have settled on, as mentioned, the Arca-Swiss Monoball P0 for a head and the Gitzo GT1545T tripod, which itself weighs 2 lbs. 5.44 oz. And so, together the tripod with head and arca-Swiss clamp weigh 3 lbs., which is not so bad. If I then add to this my Nikon Z7 II, along with the Nikon Z 105 Macro Lens S f/2.8 and straps I have another 3 lbs. 13oz. So, the whole kit (not including my shoulder bag of diffusers, batteries, etc.) tops out at 6 lbs 2oz.
Now, this is way better than what I used to haul around, yet I have to wait and see if this smaller Gitzo tripod is sturdy enough to take all the handling. I am looking at the RRS TVC-32G Versa Series 3 MK2 Ground tripod, which weighs 2.5 lbs., not much more that the Gitzo GT1545T, but is a lot bulkier. I kind of like the fat legs and strength of the RSS, if they only had them in stock!
I am wondering what you folks have come up with as for a lightweight kit capable of stacking focus, meaning a tripod strong enough to get the job done. Please feel free to share with me what you old folks are doing.
And now for my second problem, which I know too many of you will get a laugh out of, a laugh directed at me. And this involves my tiptoeing back from focus stacking and putting my toe in the water, back into one-shot photography, which of course removes the tripod, geared heads, and all that.
As for making the traditional one-shot photo that photography is famous for, I was just imagining that as long as the point of focus (wherever it is in the photo) is very crisp and sharp, that I might be happy with the photo as a whole. However, after trying that out a bit, I’m in love with it… not so much. It forces me to use higher and higher f-stops in order to get more in-focus ‘context ‘around the precise focus point, and by that I increasingly lose bokeh. It is too easy to end up with a resulting photo that is too much in focus, with no relief from the blurred bokeh background I am accustomed to by stacking focus.
And so, the bottom line here is that I feel I need to stack focus, if only around a particular area of the photo, and that requires a sturdy tripod, head, and all of that. I can’t just walk around town with a camera strapped to my neck, picking shots based on composition alone, although I am still considering it. It seems I always want to monkey with the focus by stacking different areas of the photo to bring out the precise focus point or to bring out several focus points in a single photo, which focus stacking allows.
That throws me right back into the conundrum of packing a tripod and head that is not too flimsy, one that will make picking the area in the photo for focus stacking easy and precise. And the whole kit has to be light enough for me to walk around with it for some distance from the car if not actual just hiking.
Any thoughts?
Cell phone photo
Birna Rørslett:
My preferred tripod for low-ground work & hiking is a cut-down Sachtler with the Burzynski head. Weight of the combination is around 1.5kg. I also have another even smaller bespoke version that weighs less than 1kg and is mainly used in confined circumstances (for example, in a narrow creek) or in shallows under water. Provided it is rinsed thoroughly after underwater use, no harm is done to the tripod.
The 105/2.8 MC Nikkor is excellent and not too heavy, but what a pity they didn't aim of a tripod collar for it. I have a third-party collar that is really good, but its drawsbacks are firstly it cannot rotate to portrait mode (unless undergoing a surgical DIY hack of the 'nerdy' variant), and secondly, it conflicts with the Z9 body. The collar does work well with the 105 attached to any Z fc/Z6/Z7 models though.
Michael Erlewine:
--- Quote from: Birna Rørslett on April 25, 2022, 18:46:54 ---My preferred tripod for low-ground work & hiking is a cut-down Sachtler with the Burzynski head. Weight of the combination is around 1.5kg. I also have another even smaller bespoke version that weighs less than 1kg and is mainly used in confined circumstances (for example, in a narrow creek) or in shallows under water.
The 105/2.8 MC Nikkor is excellent and not too heavy, but what a pity they didn't aim of a tripod collar for it. I have a third-party collar that is really good, but its drawsbacks are firstly it cannot rotate to portrait mode (unless undergoing a surgical DIY hack of the 'nerdy' variant), and secondly, it conflicts with the Z9 body. The collar does work well with the 105 attached to any Z frc/Z6/Z7 models though.
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the pointers. I would like to see a photo (please) of the Sachtler. I still have a Sactler. Also what is the third-party tripod collar? Thanks.
My copy of the Burzynski Ball Head weighs 2 lbs. 4 oz. (with no clamp)
Bill De Jager:
--- Quote from: Michael Erlewine on April 25, 2022, 18:52:09 ---
Thanks for the pointers. I would like to see a photo (please) of the Sachtler. I still have a Sactler. Also what is the third-party tripod collar? Thanks.
--- End quote ---
Here is one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/274908948976. I have the version for the Sigma 40mm Art. It's of decent quality and seems pretty solid, but as Birna mentions it cannot be rotated to the portrait position.
Michael Erlewine:
Yes, I found that particular collar and have it on order.
Here is my Burzynski head with a cheap clamp. I have a better one on order.
Also my Arca-Swiss Monoball P0 with a RSS panning clamp on it. This RSS clamp is as good as it gets for me.
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